Disposable absorbent articles are used to absorb and retain body exudates, such as urine, fecal material, menses, and the like. A particular desired feature of disposable absorbent articles is the capability to acquire and hold body exudates to minimize leakage of body exudates from between the absorbent article and the wearer.
References in the art teach adding a spacer to the disposable absorbent article for aiding in the containment of fecal material. Such spacers suffer from the disadvantage that they increase the initial thickness of the disposable absorbent article, and thereby increase shipping and storage costs. Such spacers may also be perceived by consumers to be uncomfortable because of their thickness prior to application of the diaper to the wearer. Examples of spacers are shown in the following references: U.S. Pat. No. 5,176,672 issued Jan. 5, 1993 to Bruemmer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,236 issued Dec. 15, 1992 to Dreier et al., and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/898,047, Spacers for Use in Disposable Absorbent Articles and Disposable Absorbent Articles Having Such Spacers, filed Jun. 11, 1992 by Allen et al.
Still other references disclose absorbent articles having inflatable structures. French Patent Application 2,561,078 published Sep. 20, 1985 in the name of Lefebvre discloses a diaper having a structure which is inflatable by mouth. Such inflation can be awkward or inconvenient, especially in public areas or when the diaper is already fastened to the wearer. Such an arrangement is also disadvantageous because of sanitary considerations.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,881,491 and 3,921,232 issued to Whyte on May 6, 1975 and Nov. 25, 1975 respectively, disclose disposable absorbent articles having self inflating structures. The self inflating structures include a wall of semipermeable material through which body fluids can pass, and a gas evolving material which interacts with an activator material (e.g.,, urine) to inflate the structure. The structure taught by Whyte primarily prevents core densification and suffers from the disadvantage that it requires an activator material from an external source, such as urine. The wearer may not urinate at the desired time, in the desired location, or in the desired amount to properly inflate the structure. U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/081,733 filed Jun. 23, 1993 in the name of Ahr et al. and 08/081,536 filed Jun. 23, 1993 in the name of LaVon et al. disclose inflatable diaper components whose inflation requires wetting of the component or mixture of two different materials.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a disposable absorbent article having a component that is expandable at the point of use of the absorbent article by a wearer, or by a person caring for the wearer, before or after the absorbent article is fastened to the wearer.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a diaper having a spacer for maintaining a fecal void space, wherein the spacer thickness can be increased o without the need for wetting of the spacer, and wherein the spacer thickness can be activated at a time selected by the consumer or wearer.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a sanitary napkin having a component which is expandable at the point of use of the sanitary napkin to provide separation and lift of the topsheet and core relative to the backsheet of the sanitary napkin, and increased caliper of the sanitary napkin along the longitudinal centerline of the sanitary napkin.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an absorbent article having an expandable component comprising a compressed resilient element disposed in an air impermeable envelope.